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Ever had one of those nights when you can’t sleep because you can’t stop worrying about something? You’ve followed your usual evening ritual, brushed your teeth, applied your creams, maybe read in bed for half an hour, and then the eyelids start to drop, you reach over and switch off the light, close your eyes and……nothing. Time drifts by and then a thought pops into your head about something you have to do at work tomorrow. You make a mental note to deal with it in the morning and roll…

My partner and I are in the process of moving house. I’ve moved a lot throughout my life and each time I seem to have more stuff to move. When I moved out of my childhood home I simply tossed my belongings into the back of my Datsun 1200B station wagon, the next time I borrowed a friend’s trailer, then I needed a small van, and the last time I had to hire professional removalists with a 10-tonne truck.
Sound familiar? A study of Australian homes by the Australia Institute…

A silver lining can even be found in a cyclone. I know because the good people of Cairns in the far north of Australia showed me. The year was 2001 and sheltering beneath a table in my lounge room I experienced the full force of Cyclone Steve, a category 2 cyclone packing winds of 90 miles per hour. Following the cyclone Cairns’ residents were without power and water for four days. FOUR DAYS. The rivers either side of the town burst their banks flooding the highways cutting off Cairns from…

I think back to an earlier relationship. My girlfriend had arrived at my flat in Sydney one day and, wearing a Cheshire cat grin and bubbling with excitement, told me that she had been accepted into a doctoral program in Brisbane. My reaction was deadpan. All I could think about was how I would find a job in another city and whether I would like living there. My personal anxiety and lack of enthusiasm succeeded in throwing a wet towel over her celebration. An opportunity for rejoicing together was lost.…